M. Catherine Shearer’s family traces its lineage to Pennsylvania’s founding era. Relying on original source materials, site visits and family lore, Shearer brings the region’s history to life with her deeply researched historical accounts of her accomplished and lively ancestors. Her work captures the influential role the extended Shearer clan played in the region’s development and culture, and has also uncovered the family’s links to Europe and beyond.
Shearer shares the results of her research widely. Most recently, she published an article in the Historical Review (Shearertown, Fall 2014) and her work has provided the basis for historical feature articles in The Reading Eagle and elsewhere. She provides information to local institutions, including the Reading Museum, on the ways family members have helped to further those missions. She is currently hard at work on a book about her great-aunt Catharine Shearer, one of the “Famous Women of Berks County”. In addition, Shearer delights in sharing information about the storied legacy with members of the Shearer extended family itself, recently arranging a reunion that drew people to Reading from around the world and allowed many family members to meet each other for the first time.
A native of Berks County, now living in Exeter Township, Shearer has been a Trustee of the Berks History Center for close to two years, and a is also a member of the Board of Directors of the Berks County Genealogical Society. Before her retirement, she was a well-known community leader. As part of her employment at the Berks County Chamber of Commerce, and the Berks County Career Link, she was involved in heightening the community’s Economic and Workforce Development efforts.